What is ton 618?

Ton 618 is an incredibly massive and distant quasar, known for harboring one of the most massive black holes ever discovered. Here's some information about it:

1. Location and Discovery: Ton 618 is located in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered in surveys conducted in the 1950s and 1960s for radio and optical astronomic data, and it was identified as a quasar in a 1970 survey.

2. Distance: Ton 618 is situated at an enormous distance from Earth, approximately 10.4 billion light-years away.

3. Black Hole Mass: The supermassive black hole at the center of Ton 618 is one of the largest known, with an estimated mass that's often cited to be around 66 billion times that of our Sun. This estimation can vary slightly based on the methods and data used.

4. Luminosity: As a quasar, Ton 618 is exceptionally bright. Quasars are active galactic nuclei powered by supermassive black holes that emit tremendous amounts of energy, primarily due to the accretion of matter into the black hole.

5. Research Significance: The extreme characteristics of Ton 618 provide valuable insights into the nature of quasars, the growth of supermassive black holes, and conditions in the early universe.

Ton 618 stands out not only for its sheer size and luminosity but also as a subject of interest for astronomers studying the most extreme phenomena in the universe.